There are numerous mouse pads on the market that are specifically targeted
for the gaming community.
Soft Trading (Denmark based distributors of Steelpad and Icemat products)
was kind enough to send over two versions of the Steelpad for evaluation, the 4D
and their latest offering, the S&S. Today I am taking a look at these two "Pro
Mouse mats" that are supposed to improve you mouse response and of course
accuracy.

First off, I will take a look at Steelpad 4D, the only double surfaced
mouse pad made for both ball mice and optical mice. Steelpad 4D comes shipped in
a nice box, and inside you will find the Steelpad 4D itself. The first thing you
will notice right off is the Steelpad 4D is made from a special durable plastic
compound. The pad looks to be extremely durable and easy to clean. The Logo is
in the material, so there won't be any part of the pad that you can't use. The
logo gives the pad a nice contrast and makes it look very stylish (but it is
still a mouse pad). Also included is a set of "padsurfers", which if you haven't
heard of before are 10cm (4" ) Teflon based strips placed on the mouse feet in
order to improve slickness. They also reduce the noise. Be happy they included
them for you.

It is really hard to get a sense of the different textures in these photos,
but you can tell that one side is smooth and shiny and the other side is rough
and dull - just turn it around. The smooth side is made for ballmice only
(worked fine with my old Genius Mice), and vice versa with the rough side. It's
for optical mice.

To put the pad through its paces I played various first person shooters (with
MX 300 and MX510), such as DOOM 3, Far Cry, Painkiller, Call of Duty, UT2k4, etc
over a period of a few weeks. In my opinion, the Steelpad without the Padsurfer
feet was a little bit disappointing. It was still a fine pad, no better or worse
than most of the mouse pads I've tested before. But, with the padsurfer feet
installed the 4D really took off!

Conclusion: For around $24.95, you can have this great mouse pad.
Great tracking (with padsurfers installed) coupled with the large surface area
make this mouse pad a buy.

Update: A couple days ago, Soft Trading ApS sent us a press release
announcing that from October 1st they will begin delivering all Steelpad 4D with
the new surface for the same price. The new surface will improve performance for
_optical mice_ and increase the durability.

The second mouse pad I've tested was SteelPad S&S - the first product
in a new line of professional gaming gear by
Schroet Kommandoz (a
major gaming community / multigaming clan) in association with Steelpad. Here
are specifications:

There is not much you can do with the packaging of a mouse pad, but the
Steelpad S&S comes in a flimsy but professional looking box which is wrapped
with a plastic foil. Inside you find the S&S itself, and a nice carry case with
a zipper, which also has additional room for your mouse to be carried. Needless
to say this is pretty useful feature for all travelling gamers. The package also
contains a set of S&S Padsurfer. They adhere to the feet of your mouse and
become the only surface that contacts the S&S mouse pad. When you first take it
out of the box, you'll notice that the pad is huge - much bigger than the 4D -
32x27cm!. This is the type of pad that you need a big space for. Another thing
that I noticed besides it being so big was the thickness of it. It is very thin.
I really like thin pads because I didn't feel my hand straining as much to rise
above the table rest.

Despite the name, the Steelpad S&S is made out of plastic material. I would
say the surface is very smooth and solid providing an excellent surface for the
mouse. The plastic also seems more than sturdy enough to resist any scratching
it may otherwise receive during daily use. The entire bottom surface covered in
little rubber droppings (see
pics #3)
which allows for maximum contact and holding power to the surface of the desk.
You can be 100% sure that the whole pad won’t move around while gaming.

As mentioned above, I spent several weeks gaming using two optical mice (MX
300 and MX510) and one ball mouse (old Genius NetScroll). To be honest, testing
the pad in a FPS was really a blast! For that, I've launched Unreal Tournament
2004 and started fragging. From what I observed, both of the mice drag pretty
smoothly on this SteelPad S&S mouse pad and it's very comfortable for gaming. I
have no complaints about performance. In one word: performance is top notch!
Again, I recommend to attach included Pad Surfers - it will improve the
performace a lot.

Now the question on everyone's mind, why should I pay $40 for a mouse pad?
Well, the Steelpad S&S isn't a mouse pad for the casual gamers. It's a pad
developed by professional gamers for professional gamers. So, if you are an
occasional gamer or even a moderate gamer, I would say stick with a simple mouse
pad :) But, if you are a keen gamer and looking for a new mat, I would certainly
recommend looking at this one!